As John Grant does every shift that he reports for duty, he received his assignment and went to work focusing on our veterans. On this particular shift, John received a patient from surgery who would be spending at least one night in the ICU and possibly two. As he admitted and began to care for this veteran, John identified that the veteran did not bring with him the normal personal items that a patient spending the night in a hospital brings. As usual, John began to casually ask questions and was able to determine that neither he or his wife came to the VA prepared for an overnight stay.
The patient was to have his surgery as an outpatient and be dismissed home the same day. Being the curious person that he is, John began to dig a little deeper as he felt that something just wasn't right. He identified that his patient and wife did not live in the Amarillo area and drove a fair distance for his scheduled surgery. After asking a few more questions John determined that the wife did not have a place to go to for the night. John was able to assist the veteran's wife in securing lodging for the night. The veteran and his wife were in disbelief that someone, essentially a stranger, would do this for them.
For those that know John, know that this is not the first time that he has done something like this for a veteran and his or her family. John never speaks about his random acts of caring and kindness as he prefers to keep the extra things that he does for our veterans and their family private. John's actions truly speak to the kind of person that he is and, in this case, it was not only the veteran and his family that was grateful for John's act of compassion but his peers as well.